


Christmas Fiasco

by BombzDiggidy



Series: Catboy of Seaforth [2]
Category: Catboy of Seaforth, Original Work
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Time, Original Character(s), Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BombzDiggidy/pseuds/BombzDiggidy
Summary: As Seaforth celebrates the lighting of their annual Christmas tree, they suddenly find themselves under siege by Vagrant, an old enemy of Catboy's who has come to threaten the mayor for leaving him and many other homeless people out in the streets. And it's up to Mau to stop them. Will he be able to, or will he be forced to take a winter nap forever !
Series: Catboy of Seaforth [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002969





	Christmas Fiasco

“Merry Christmas !”  
The chorus of cheers erupted down in Seaforth Square as the giant christmas tree lit up in an orchestra of red, green and white. The citizens gathered around cheered in excitement as a rendition of Holly Jolly Christmas played through the loudspeakers gathered around. High above the excitement of the crowd, sitting atop the tallest building in Seaforth was a young boy, his long black hair blowing in the wind as he watched down below. 

“Gotta admit I think they outdid themselves.” The boy said softly to the warm thermos that was currently wrapped in his hands. Mau Sanders was always one to enjoy the holidays, in his last three years of being Catboy, he came to the reveal of the Seaforth Christmas Tree and watched from above. It was a closed event, the people in the crowd had to pay for tickets just to watch it, and those who couldn’t get tickets instead watched from the sidewalks a whole street down or stayed at home and simply enjoyed the festivities from the comfort of their own home, waiting for a word from their loving mayor. 

Mau, of course, could cheat his way into a spot, finding a place no one would see him. Granted he had to watch out for the security that was scattered all across town. Can’t have a big event like this with the mayor without a little security. 

Down below the crowd all sang along to the tune as from the street came a long dark limo, rather recklessly driving through the crowd. The people didn’t care, to them Mayor Lafayette was a saint. The youngest Mayor seaforth ever had, coming from nothing basically. To be honest Mau didn’t really like him. Found him to be too stuck up for his tastes.

But as the limo came to a stop next to the stage, and the door opened, another loud chorus of applause rang out as the mayor stepped out from his seat. Mau huffed a little as he watched the man wave and act all high and mighty to the crowd. He sipped on his hot chocolate, as he settled into his spot to watch the following festivities. 

“Hello ! Hello everybody, Merry Christmas !” Mayor Lafayette called out as he held his arms out to the people before him. The crowd again erupted into cheers, before quieting down as he began to speak once more. “I know that our city these past few years may be a little dangerous. And with everyone wearing a mask these days who knows who’s who these days am i right !” The mayor jokes, the crowd mucking up his words with loud laughter. Mau grumbled again at the obvious dig towards him. 

“But, I come to you this year as me and every other mayor has every Christmas to let you know that I am here for you. I don’t wake up and put on a mask, I do not go out and destroy our beautiful city. But instead, I come and I show you, my fellow citizens, my  _ family _ , that I am and always will be here, for you. Every waking moment of my life is spent pondering on ways to make my city, my home the great city that I very well know we can be !” At the end of his statement the crowd threw themselves into a loud adoring applause, calling out their love for the man. As he began to make his departure Mau sighed and stood up, getting ready to head home as well. 

“Well now hold on ! Your family? Really that’s what he calls us !” A voice rang out through the city square that made everyone including Mau, who felt a familiar chill run up his spine as he turned around. 

Coming from the back of the square like a marching band was a group of homeless people? Their clothes all tattered and ragged, their faces disheveled and messy. Leading the pack was a man, a man Mau knew all too well. Dressed as if he were the hobo from Polar Express was a man, skinny and frail walking forward swinging a cane in his hand. He came to a stop leaning forward on said cane, the entire swarm stopping behind him. 

Maxwell Talor, a man that truly showed to never judge a book by it’s cover. Max was one of Mau’s oldest criminals,or as the newspapers called him, Vagrant, King of the Homeless. His tale was a sad one, to say the least, homeless for many years until he was captured by Stalor Industries and used as a human guinea pig, the countless tests they put him through morphed him into a man of great durability and strength. But he usually never pulled something like this. Mau frowned and he quickly threw his thermos and bag to the side as he grabbed onto the amulet around his neck. 

“You say you’re such a loving man. That you care for everyone in the city yet, me and my friends and my family, live day after day in the sewers, because YOU allowed for them to pass laws to put spikes and other deadly nuances to deter those of us less fortunate!” Vagrant snapped pointing his cane towards Lafayette. The mayor frowned and turned to face Vagrant flaring towards him.   
“Come on now. I wanted to deter those alws ! I have been fighting to remove them ! They were made before my time !” Lafayette snapped, but Vagrant just laughed and sighed as he stood up straight. 

“Well you haven’t done enough. Tonight I’ll show you what it means to lose everything. BOYS !” Vagrant called out, the army behind him all brandished what seemed to be pipes and broken bottles. As Vagrant twirled his cane he suddenly pointed it towards Lafayette. “GET HIM! “ The army behind him let out a roar as they charged the crowd, which all began to run away in a frenzy. As the army was about to breach the crowd a black shape landed hard and fast in front of them, causing both parties to suddenly freeze. 

“Come on now Talor ! It’s Christmas !” Catboy called out as he stood to his full height, smirking towards the man now standing in the middle of the crowd. There was a cheer almost from behind him, with the crowd. Still had to do some winning over it seemed, from the various jeers behind him. Vagrant laughed a little and crossed his arms raising an eyebrow. 

“Look boys ! A two for one ! Kill the cat, and grab the mayor !” he called out, and with that, his army began to charge again. Catboy smirked slightly and rushed forward towards the army. 

Catboy jumped into the air as three men charged towards him, he landed on one of them kicking them down, using them as a board to jump forward and pounced onto another one, pushing them down onto the ground hard. As he held himself up using his arms he kicked his legs out hitting two of them and knocking them down. He landed back on his feet and charged forward again, kicking and punching his way through the crowd until he made his way through to Vagrant. But as he reached him, Vagrant laughed and swung his cane towards him, Catboy ducked quickly under the swing but instantly found himself being grabbed by the scruff of his cape. Vagrant laughed and swung him around before throwing him towards the stage. Catboy landed hard onto the wooden platform and slid across until he hit the back wall. He groaned as he looked up at Lafayette’s disappointing glare. 

“Some hero.” He scoffed before he was escorted away by his security guards, Catboy growled as he pushed himself back up before jumping back into the crowd again to instantly go back into battle. 

As Lafayette was escorted away his two guards were suddenly stopped by four men. As they reached for their guns one of them was stabbed in the back by a homeless man before the other three all sprang on him, stabbing him with the various sharp objects they possessed. In the shock of the attack, the other security guard turned to the attack only to be violently hit upon the head by Vagrant’s cane. The sickening crack and the way his body crumpled to the ground showed that Lafayette was all alone. 

“You-” Lafayette was cut off as Vagrant shoved his cane into Lafayette’s face forcing him to step backwards. 

“You are coming with me sir ! We gots some talking to do !” Vagrant says with a laugh before he pushes his cane hard into Lafayette’s nose forcing him to fall backwards into the arms of two homeless people. Vagrant laughed loudly as he led his two men away, the mayor being dragged between them.

Back in the plaza Catboy continued to fight his way through the crowd, forcing his way among the various attackers. But almost instantly, as he punched one man sending him flying, it was almost as if every single attacker around him suddenly froze before dropping down onto the floor around him. Catboy breathed out softly as he stared at the various bodies around him, rushing to one of them he knelt down and touched a finger to his throat. Seeing that he was still alive Catboy sighed, and allowed his suit to tell him that the same was for everybody else that had fallen around him. 

“Mau, they've taken the mayor.” The voice inside his suit said softly, before taking form before him in the body he’s grown to know these past years. Aziz stood tall before him, reaching almost seven feet tall. Long black hair ran down to his legs as she watched him, her whole body was surrounded by a blue aura. Catboy sighed as he stood straight watching her, he knew no one else could see her, but still he hated speaking to himself in public, already weird enough to the crowd with his uniform. 

“Dammit. This wasn’t an assassination it was a kidnapping damnit !” Catboy snapped to himself, as the police around him began to group up he quickly jumped up high in the sky, already his mind racing with various scenarios that would be played out soon. His night wasn’t gonna be over anytime soon.

* * *

As Mau landed back into his room several hours later, transforming back into his civilian self on the way, he was almost instantly met with the sound of his phone ringing. Mau ran a hand through his hair as he slid into his desk, pulling his phone out and leaning back in his seat as he answered it. 

“MAU OH MY GOD WERE YOU WATCHING !” Mau had to hold his phone away from his ear as he was met with the familiar loud voice of his best friend Aurora Conroy. Mau sighed as he rubbed his eyes placing the phone back against his ear. 

“Yea Rora I was watching. Why do you sound excited?” He asks tiredly as he rubs his eyes, he loved her he did, but if it was involving his alter ego Aurora always seemed to grow ecstatic even when the situations turned dire.

“Cause ! Yes okay, the mayor getting kidnapped, not okay and not fun but I mean Catboy was awesome tonight ! He was kicking and swinging his way through a whole army ! One on one !” Aurora said in that same excited tone as before, thankfully taken down a few decibels. Mau laughed softly as he balanced the phone between his ear, entering his password into his computer and getting to work. 

“Yea well some lousy job he did right?” Mau said with a small scoff as he began searching up anything that he may help with. His computer was outfitted with technology that even the U.S. government had on their Christmas List. It was a gift from Nicole, the one person who knows, knew, his identity. Instantly he began pulling up the locked files behind the mayor’s computer. 

“Hey ! Look, I know you’re still upset at Catboy for what happened with Nicole but he was doing his best.” She spoke softly, although she had no idea that he was Catboy (granted he still blamed himself for what happened) she rarely brought up Nicole, save for when she wanted to fuss him for his “dislike” of Catboy. Mau sighs as he leaned back into his seat, as his computer began running through any and all files. He frowns softly and spins in his chair to face his window on the other side of his room. 

“Let's not talk about that Aurora. You called me for a reason right? Got some idea on what’s going on.” Although she had no idea he was Catboy, she always came to him to explain some big idea she had about what the villains of Seaforth had planned. Aurora prided herself on being the biggest comic book fan in the city, so she always came up with ideas and theories of the different plans that were brewing in the underground. Funny enough, a lot of the times she was correct. 

“Well you heard what Vagrant said tonight at his big show? That he was gonna show Lafayette what it’s like to lose everything? Lafayette is known for coming from nothing, but he built his clothing empire. Hell his tower is shining brighter than the christmas tree in the center of Seaforth. He’s gonna destroy his empire one starting with that wouldn’t he?” Aurora says softly, there’s a moment of silence just as his computer dings with results. Mau spins around and turns to face his computer. There on his screen was a report, detalingin the showcasing of a brand new power system connecting all of Seaforth to be unveiled Christmas Day all converging at Lafayette Towers. Mau’s eyes widen and he pushes his seat back, he cusses to himself as he pushes his chair back. He hadn’t even thought of that, instead he had spent the last few hours walking around in the sewers to nothing. But he shouldn’t have been looking underground, they never went back underground. “Mau? Hellooooo you there? Tell me that’s not smart.”   
‘Yeah no no that’s super smart yeah but hey I just remembered I’m supposed to go pick up Aisha from work I gotta go she’ll kill me if I’m late again !” And before Aurora could say anything else he hung up and rushed out the window transforming as he leapt out into the night sky.

* * *

Lafayette woke up weakly inside of his old office, his chair spun around to face the large floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city down below. He tried to move his arm only to find that it was tied down to his chair, large thick wires were wrapped around his entire body. He struggled against the bindings trying to free himself, but froze as he heard the echoes of footsteps behind him. 

“Now Mr. Mayor, just relax. You’re in for a real light show.” Before Lafayette could turn his head he suddenly felt the arm of Vagrant wrap around his neck. He pushed the chair forward till both of them were practically pressed up against the glass. “See. When we overload the new little power boxes that you’ve planted underneath your precious building. Every subsequent power box around the city will simply go BOOM!” At the loud yell Vagrant slammed Lafayette into the glass, cracking it but not breaking it. 

“You really couldn’t have done something simple? Like I don’t know, just steal christmas presents or something !” The playful voice rang out in the empty office, and as Vagrant turned towards the source he was suddenly met with Catboy’s boot swinging into his jaw and sending him flying through the office wall into the room next door. Catboy landed low before quickly turning around and using his claws to slash at the binds holding the mayor. 

“Took you long enough.” Lafayette huffs as he stands up. Catboy scoffs but his annoyance quickly goes away as he turns just in time to smash a flying desk, shattering it to pieces with his fists. 

“Shut up and run!” Catboy snaps, just as Vagrant dashes at him. Catboy blocks his first attack, using his forearm to take it, before jumping up as Vagrant kicks at his legs. In the air Catboy flips back and swings his foot upwards slamming into Vagrant’s chin and knocking him back. He’s stunned for a second before he rushes forward, grabbing onto Catboy’s foot and slamming him into the ground. Catboy coughs as the wind rushes out the body before he hurriedly crosses his arms across his chest as Vagrant slams his foot onto him. The impact smashes him through the two floors below him and Catboy lands uncomfortably onto a desk smashing the computer below him. He’s only given a moment of rest before Vagrant jumps down towards him. Catboy reaches back and just before Vagrant lands on him, he rips the door off the cubicle he’s in and slams it into Vagrant forcing him to fall just short of him. 

“You ! You’re a protector of the innocent yet you keep trying to stop me ! I’m trying to get revenge for those the city has thrown away!” Vagrant snaps, Catboy scoffs pushes himself onto his feet crouching low in front of Vagrant. 

“I don’t do revenge. You’re right in your way of thinking, those people have been treated unfairly but there’s other ways of handling this !” Catboy snaps, but Vagrant ignores him rushing forward. Catboy frowns and dives out of the way as Vagrant bulldozes his way through the cubicles behind him. Scrambling to change direction, Catboy pounces after him, using the remaining cubicles as a passage after him. With one strong push Catboy soars past Vagrant landing in front of him. Vagrant swings a right hook but Catboy raises his left arm, blocking the blow, and in that instant he rushes forward. 

His first hit is a straight, slamming into Vagrant’s chin, but this time Catboy doesn’t allow him a chance to fly back, in the moment right after Catboy slams his forehead against Vagrants before delivering blow after blow. Each hit just as hard as before, Vagrant, frozen in shock, can barely move just being forced to take each hit. 

“I feel for you Maxwell. I know what they’ve done to you, taken from you. But I tried before to reach out to you.” Catboy speaks, as Vagrant stumbles back. Catboy frowns as he moves forward. “I want to help you, so badly, but you’ve denied my help and wanted to hurt innocents. So, I’m sorry…” At that, Vagrant snaps, using whatever last bit of energy to let out a yell as he swings one last punch in a desperate attempt, but as he swings another hook, Catboy is gone, crouched low to the ground Catboy looks up at the man before him, a frown upon his lips. But he takes one last swing, swinging his arm upwards and catching Vagrant’s chin in an uppercut, and everything freezes for a moment, an eternity as Catboy meets Vagrant’s eyes, before time resumes, the windows around them blow out with a loud crash and Catboy sends Vagrant flying upwards, crashing through the floors before he finally slams into the roof of the building. His body slams into it, cracking the surface, but he doesn’t breach it. With a gasp, Vagrant’s eyes flutter close and he falls to the floor. Catboy breathes out heavily before he allows himself to stagger. But above, in one last moment of consciousness, Vagrant reaches into his coat and pulls out a switch. And just as Catboy jumps up to join him, Vagrant flashes him a tired, weak grin and flips the switch. 

Again, time freezes as Catboy registers what’s about to happen. With his speed he rushes forward, but it’s too late as Vagrant has fully pressed the activation switch. 

“MAU ! MOVE !” Aziz’s voice screams into his ear, and Catboy’s eyes widen before with a BOOM he’s moving out of the room. Rushing down the stairs at a speed so fast the floor beneath his cracks as he moves. In an instant he’s underground, time still moving as if it’s frozen, from there he can see the large power box that hums loudly, growing louder and louder as each slow, almost frozen second passes. It begins to grow brighter as energy begins to fill the machine, the source of this new energy a hobbled put together machine next to it, as Catboy’s eyes scan the room he can see hundreds of wires rushing upwards and no doubt onto the streets of Seaforth above. As Catboy rushes forward he can hear Aziz speak to him again. “There’s no stopping the process, it's already begun !” 

And as Catboy reaches the machine time begins to move normally, and the intensity of the light grows brighter, the humming growing louder to an almost roar. Catboy cusses and looks around, trying to find anything that he could use to disconnect the machines, but there is none. As Catboy moves to the smaller machine, his eyes widen as an idea pops in his head. Reaching down he grabs tightly onto the two wires connecting the two machines. 

“Give it to me !” Catboy snaps to Aziz, who he hears gasp in surprise. 

“Mau, there’s no telling what all that energy will do to you ! The suit can take it but you’re still human!” She calls out, but Catboy shakes his head, gripping the thick wires tightly. 

“We don’t have time for that ! Give it to me !” He snaps, this time louder and more demanding. There’s a moment of silence before Aziz sighs softly. 

“Okay...I’m sorry.” And as she finishes speaking Catboy’s entire body fills with intense heat, before it becomes almost unbearable, and then, nothing but a searing pain. 

Catboy lets out a yell as the energy flows into him, and his thoughts become nothing more than a roar of anguish.But he keeps his hands around the wires, even as every bone in his body begins to feel as if it’s being cooked in the world’s hottest oven. His body tries to pull away but he keeps himself rooted in the spot, even as sparks begin to fly from the machine he’s holding, he’s able to watch as the powerbox slowly begins to calm down. The bright light diminishing and the loud roar growing quieter and quieter. Soon, only his screams fill the low, barely lit room he’s in. As he grits his teeth he can feel blood shoot out his mouth as his body begins to break from the intensity of the energy he’s absorbing. The pain surges more and more as time goes on, and with all his might he tries not to scream, but soon it becomes impossible, and as his mouth opens to release a terrible anguished scream, there’s a boom. An explosion rocks the entire building, and the once bright city of Seaforth goes dark, but that’s all there is. Nothing more, and the city grows quiet, until there’s not even a single sound in the city, not even a mouse. 

* * *

Catboy opens his eyes and finds himself seeing white. He laughs softly as he closes his eyes again, his breath coming out in short, heavy breaths. 

“So this is heaven…” He says to himself softly, but as he moves he suddenly finds his entire body aching in pain. So okay, dying didn’t take the pain away, that’s a surprise. 

“Not heaven, sadly, just the ground.” A voice says behind him, and Catboy’s eyes flash open before he’s able to roll himself over and find himself staring at Mayor Lafayette, sitting down in the snow beside him. Catboy breathes softly as his surroundings finally become something other than a blur. 

He was outside, the Lafayette building behind him, though the entrance and first floor were nothing but a dark black mess, the explosion having practically destroyed the bottom floors. 

As Catboy finds the strength to push himself up, he watches as various homeless exit the building, all groggy and confused, as if they had no idea what they were doing there. 

So, hypnosis, add that to the list of things that Vagrant can do. 

_ Vagrant! _

Catboy gasps as he pushes himself to his feet looking all around them for the man he had just fought. But he doesn’t see him and he frowns, below him Lafayette laughs as he lights a cigarette. 

“If you’re looking for Vagrant, he’s gone. Leapt away into the night just a few minutes before you woke up.” He mumbles softly, as he presses the palm of his hand into his eye. Catboy cusses to himself as he turns to face the city. All over the power was out, the city streets and homes all black. There was a crowd forming in front of the lawn, Catboy frowned and steps back, but Lafayette holds up a hand. “Wait, wait.” He says softly as he stands up turning to face him. Preparing for another beratement from the mayor, he’s surprised when he holds his hand out. 

“Look, I don’t like the mask. But you did good tonight.” He says softly, Catboy blinks and looks at his hand and Lafayette, before smiling softly and taking it with a firm shake. 

“Hey, it’s what I do.” Catboy says softly with a shrug, Lafayette lets out a low chuckle as he takes a hit off his cigarette. And as the sound of police sirens can be heard in the distance Lafayette jams a thumb forward. 

“Get out of here, I’ll tell them what happened.” He mumbles running a hand through his hair. Again, Catboy finds himself smiling before he nods. Catboy gives a nod towards the mayor before he jumps away into the air. As he soars above the crowd, he begins to hear the sound of awe below him. Looking down, he suddenly finds himself, glowing?

The white parts of his suit began to give off sparkles, flowing down into the crowd below. Beautiful, plentiful dots of light that flake off him like snow, seeming as if he himself was creating the lights in the night sky. 

“You’re releasing that excess energy. You sure took a lot.” Aziz says, as she floats

beside him. Catboy laughs softly as he jumps along rooftops, the energy falling away behind him. And as he leaps away into the night, people all over exit their homes to watch as the lights fall away from him, showering them in warmth like a protective blanket. And even though the power stays off for the next few hours. Everyone is able to go back to bed, safe and warm in their homes. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody ! So this is my Christmas special ! I wanted to make a Christmas Special ever since I started writing and publishing Mau's stories. Had a hard time coming up with a story though! But after watching Batman Returns I got inspired and so you'll see that this is inspired by that if you're a fan of it ! Along with that, the ending is also inspired by the Astro Boy anime form 2003 ! But with that I hope everybody has had a wonderful holiday and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year !


End file.
